North West Hampshire MP champions the end of European jurisdiction

Tory MP's 'taking back control' missive

THE MP for North West Hampshire has revealed he believes the most powerful reason for leaving the EU is the country gaining back overall control of its legal system.

Kit Malthouse issued a statement today (Wednesday) and fast on the heels of the Government's defeat at the Supreme Court of Justice ruling yesterday (Tuesday), that Parliament must decide on whether the UK can start the process of leaving the EU.

Entitled: Taking Back Control for a Global Britain: Mr Malthouse advocated an end to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.

Mr Malthouse said: "Whenever a speech is anticipated as much as Theresa May’s on Brexit the risk of disappoint looms.

"We needn’t have worried. It is now clear that a naturally cautious Prime Minister understands that leaving the EU requires us to be bold, calling an end to the era of Brussels directives, becoming a dynamic globe-trotting country more responsive to will of its citizens.

"That means pursuing reforms making the UK the best place in the world to build a business and put accountability in the hands of Parliament.

"To that end she set out a twelve point plan so people here and in governments across the continent know exactly how Britain will proceed in the negotiation to leave the EU.

"Taking back control lies at the heart of the plan.

"An end to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice means that our laws will be made in Westminster, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, not Brussels, and those laws will be interpreted by judges in this country, not Luxembourg.

"For me, this is the most powerful reason for leaving: the question of who governs Britain.

Democracy on our island is old and strong, won by generations of Britons demanding their rights and freedoms.

"All that was at risk in the EU.

"That federal project has never had a viable system of democratic accountability. It even lacks consent for the major economic reforms needed to save it and so it trundles inexorably towards economic stagnation.

"If we hadn’t decided to get out now we may have been too demoralised to do so later.

"The EU project is doomed and inside, a slow motion disaster beckoned for the UK.

"Bringing powers back from one distant capital however does not mean hoarding them in another.

"We can strengthen our union by making sure that Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and England’s city and local governments also see the return of powers and that decisions are made closer to the people they affect.

"This then is the major prize that awaits us; a reconnection with democracy and the nation state.

"On trade, for the first time in four decades, we will be able to strike our own deals.

"The EU certainly makes up a significant, but declining share of our trade and it’s the interests of both sides that we make a deal and we will.

"The important thing however is our ability to gain better access than ever to the world’s largest and fastest growing economies.

"Having taken back control a British government can build on our unique economic advantages of language, law, time zone and scientific prowess to drive us to success in trade, all of which exist independently of our EU membership.

"It’s no coincidence that we’re first in line for a deal with the United States, that our Commonwealth allies are keen to begin talks, and that China, India and Japan beckon.

"The world hungers for the skills, advice, ingenuity and knowledge of these islands and its time that spread our wings again.